History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 424 Bird's Nest as Bait
Suddenly, Zhao Cao saw a person three zhang away, and his soul nearly flew out of his body! The person's surname was Zhao, and he was ostensibly a minor official in Yijing, but in reality, he was a spy bribed by Xiao Liang. That night, he failed to kill Wei Yao and fled towards Yijing according to the route instructed by Du Sichong, shouting "Someone jumped into the well." This was the code. Zhao, who was waiting at the entrance of the neighborhood, immediately encouraged the other officials to rescue the person and let him sneak into Yijing in the chaos, escaping through another door.

Zhao Cao had excellent eyesight and could clearly remember Zhao Xiaoli's appearance even in the darkest night. He cursed under his breath, "Damn it," because his worst fears had come true. Two men walked towards Zhao Xiaoli, and judging from their gait, they were soldiers who had received martial arts training.

"Are you the official in Yijing?"

Zhao Sengbiao: "Yes." His official robes had markings on both the front and back, so he couldn't lie.

“We are two prison officials from the Sizhou Prefecture. We have a murder case related to Yijing Village, and we'd like to ask you about it. Come with us.”

Zhao Sengbiao: "Oh dear, I'm a scaredy-cat, don't scare me."

"Heh, if you don't come with me, it's not as simple as just scaring you!"

At the same time, Wei Yao accompanied Yuan Yu to the Sizhou office. The registrar, Gou Qi, handed her a letter with a smile. The envelope was blank, and she knew it was sent by Yuan Mao through someone. Yuan Yu teased, "Sister-in-law, please read the letter first?"

Wei Yao was worried that Yuan Mao might encounter danger while investigating the case outside, and she had been eagerly awaiting his letter home. So, ignoring the winks and smirks from others, she quickly opened the letter and was relieved to see that he was safe.

With family matters settled, it's time to discuss government affairs.

Registrar Gou: "This morning, the Prefect returned and asked me to arrange for men to search the bird nests on both sides of Tongtuo Street, saying it was the Junior Minister's order. I thought the Junior Minister wouldn't arrange this without a reason, so I couldn't help but think that the second assassin's successful escape that night might be related to the minor official in the Yijing well next to Tongtuo Street. There are always some self-righteous and daring spies who like to watch the government troops make a big fuss, so the Junior Minister used bird nests as bait to lure the spies out, right?"

“Hmm.” Wei Yao explained to Yuan Yu, Kou Meng, and Lu Gongzhi beside her why she did this: “During this period of time, I have reviewed many murder cases from the Han Dynasty to the present. I have found that most of the most vicious and wicked villains have two habits. One is to return to the place where they committed crimes right under the noses of the government soldiers. The other is that wherever the government soldiers are investigating a case, they disguise themselves as civilians to watch. Through these two actions, the villains show their contempt for the government and the prison officials. Once they succeed, it will encourage their evil, and the next time they commit a crime, they will be more cruel and arrogant.”

After explaining, Wei Yao looked at Clerk Gou, bowed, and said, "Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me. I didn't think of this at first, but it was when Clerk Gou used this method to arrest Xue Zhixiao that I realized it."

Clerk Gou nodded with a smile and praised, "Young Master, you have a keen mind, which is why you can understand so quickly. I hope the fish will take the bait."

As soon as he expressed his wish, the two jailers brought Zhao Xiaoli to the jail.

Yelü, the military advisor who was patrolling the inner city, rushed to report some news: he had discovered two rumors circulating in the city related to Wei Yao.

It was rumored that Emperor Xiao Yan of Liang gave Zhao Zhi two cities to delay the war in Yingzhou. When the Emperor of Wei found out, Zhao Zhi and her daughter were doomed and would lose their official positions.

Another rumor... Zhao Zhi killed Zhao Xiu and buried his body in his home in Quanxue Lane.

Of all the people in the office, only Chief Clerk Gou knew that Wei Yao was fueling the second rumor. Seeing that Wei Yao remained silent, he instructed Military Advisor Yelü to follow his usual tactic: "Post a notice at the city gate, informing the people that the government is cracking down on spies from the Xiao Liang dynasty! Starting today, the prefectural office will accept reports from the people about spies. If the evidence of the reported crimes is true, a generous reward will be given."

Rumors stop with the wise, but the wise are few and far between. At this time, it is necessary to publicize the criminal law to the people, so that they know the severity of the criminal law and that spreading rumors is also a crime! Wei Yao used rumors to openly bring up Zhao Xiu's disappearance, not to invite trouble, but because the emperor had mentioned Zhao Xiu several times when recalling the past. As long as the emperor does not forget Zhao Xiu, there will definitely be ministers who will use flattery to re-investigate why Zhao Xiu disappeared. She and her mother have made many enemies in the court, and it is easy for people to link this matter with her mother.

Rather than being used as a pawn, she should choose the moment when the emperor breaks Xiao Liang's counter-espionage scheme and take the initiative to spread the rumor that her mother killed Zhao Xiu. When the emperor hears the rumor, he will have to personally refute it in order to show Xiao Liang that the relationship between the emperor and his subjects is harmonious. In this way, her mother will be completely cleared of the disappearance of Zhao Xiu.

Things piled up all day.

Previously, the clerks in the household registration database had been asked to search for the household registers of people who had been disfigured for various reasons after the relocation of the capital. The clerks will carry out the task and place widowed households and single households with only one person left in their families separately.

An old man without a wife is called a widower.

An old person without children is called a childless person.

As requested by Wei Yao, they needed to find people whose faces were completely disfigured, and there were a total of four widowers or single people in this situation.

Wei Yao looked at one card and handed it to someone else. Yuan Yu read it aloud: "Liu Caidao from the east of the city's Zhihuo Lane, a butcher... Lu Mu from the west of the city's Cixiao Lane, a coffin maker... Sun Tu from the north of the city's Wenyi Lane, a bricklayer..."

Wei Yao: "Including Xue Zhixiao, the east, south, west, and north are all covered."

Registrar Gou: "I hope it's not a coincidence, otherwise it will be another case of injustice for several families!"

The jailer who had investigated where Wu Lin, the missing servant of the fish shop, had gone to buy spices returned, angrily reporting: "The spice shop is in the west of the city, owned by Liu Da Jia. The manager is not in the shop. I asked the servants about Wu Lin, but they were all very arrogant and said they didn't remember the small-time merchant."

Liu Dajia was the richest merchant in the Great Wei Dynasty. He had many dealings with the princes and ministers in the court, and their interests were intertwined. Moreover, he contributed a lot to the imperial shipping every year. Not to mention the prison officials, even Wei Yao could not easily confiscate Liu's property without reporting to the emperor.

However, respecting her is only necessary if you don't provoke her!
Wei Yao handed the plaque of the Court of Justice to the jailer and sternly instructed him: "Go again and give me my name. If the servants can't remember, make them think carefully and tell them if anyone has bought spices from the Crane Cry Pavilion in the west of the city. If so, tell them who bought the spices! If they still look down on you or give you the runaround, tell them that if they oppose me, Wei Yao, today, I will cut down Liu Dajia's gold mountain tomorrow!"

After the jailer left, Wei Yao was still angry. She sat down silently at the desk where the household registers were placed. Everyone in the office knew that Wei Yao was petty. Sure enough, after pondering for a few moments, she ordered Yuan Yu, "Get me pen and ink."

This is for writing a memorial to the throne!
The matter that Wei Yao wrote was a petition to reform the residential system of Luoyang city, separating officials and merchants and prohibiting them from living together. This method could lower the status of merchants and make it easier to rectify their various transgressions in eating, clothing, housing and transportation. Only when officials, farmers and artisans all despise merchants could officials be curbed from engaging in commerce.

Before the jailer returned to the spice shop in the south of the city, the memorial to demote Liu Dajia had already been written and sent by Kou Meng to the Secretariat, directly to Prince Yuan Yi of Qinghe.

Wei Yao also instructed Kou Meng on another matter: on his return, he was to circle the Sizhou government office several times to see if any suspicious individuals were loitering nearby. If the bird's nest bait had truly caught a fish, there might be more than one.

Wei Yao decided not to delay the matter of the registrar and took Yuan Yu and Lu Gongzhi to interrogate Zhao Sengbiao, a minor official in Yijing Village.